Sanofi Acquires Tidal Therapeutics

Sanofi acquired Tidal Therapeutics, a preclinical stage biotech company with a novel mRNA-platform for reprogramming of immune cells, for $160 million upfront and up to $310 million in milestones. The new technology platform expands Sanofi’s research capabilities in both immuno-oncology and inflammatory diseases, with potential in other disease areas.  

“We anticipate that this next generation, off-the-shelf approach has the potential to bring CAR-T cell therapy to a much broader patient population,” said Frank Nestle, Global Head of Research and Chief Scientific Officer at Sanofi. “We believe that the underlying mRNA targeting platform will create disruptive therapeutic approaches across a variety of oncology and autoimmune conditions.”

Tidal Therapeutics novel mRNA technology is based on proprietary nanoparticles that deliver mRNA (messages) to reprogram immune cells inside the body. The technology delivers mRNA cargos selectively to designated types of cells in the body, with initial applications targeting specific types of immune cells. The in vivo approach is designed to provide similar efficacy to current ex vivo (outside the body) approaches where immune cells are genetically modified to enhance their therapeutic properties (such as chimeric antigen receptor CAR-expressing T-cells), with the potential for improved safety, outpatient dosing, and repeat dosing.

Tidal Therapeutics has ongoing preclinical programs including in vivo re-programming of T cells or other types of immune cells for cancer indications.